It’s An Epidemic!
Kate’s blog post here is eerily similar to the non-stop round-and-round discussions I had in my head, with Jim, with Ulla, and with anyone else who would listen (or who didn’t escape or cut me off before I got going) during the long and painful weeks when I was trying to choose between Tish and Loki (Diziet). In the end, I kept the dog my heart wanted, and because agility is my first love, even if she turns out to be unfinishable, she will hopefully still be an awesome agility dog. But she is certainly not the conformation prospect that Diziet was (at least at the ages they were when I was deciding). To be fair, Tish was actually nicer than Diziet in some ways at 8 weeks, but Diziet was definitely much nicer conformationally when I made my final decision (which I agonized about up to and including the day she left). Ultimately, Tish was just the one who demanded to stay here, she was the one whose personality wedged into our hearts. And even though I will breed another litter, and Tish is certainly a breeding prospect, temperament and personality have to be at least as important as conformation no matter what. I could not imagine placing a dog I loved unless I was sure that the new home would allow it a better life than I could offer. Keeping the dog you love, even if it’s not perfect, has to be the right thing to do…at least for me.